Maya Literature

It's possible that the Maya learned how to write from
the Olmec, but there aren't any examples
of early Olmec writing, so more likely it was the Maya who invented writing
in the Americas. Like most other writing systems, Maya writing is a syllabary,
not an alphabet (compare Sumerian
cuneiform or Egyptian
hieroglyphics or Chinese.)

Maya writing is not very difficult to read once you get some practice. You
can begin by reading the numbers. One dot means one, two dots mean two,
and so on. A bar means five, and two bars on top of each other mean ten.